Targum on Revelation 8:12

Targum on Revelation 8:12

By Ryan Apple

I will sweep away one-third of the heavens;
     the club of Orion will crumble to dust,
     the Libra come unbalanced,
     and the clasping hands of Gemini break.  

When I have shattered the zodiac,
     and caused both she-bear and cub to starve,
then all their cartographers will gather and mourn;
     they shall lament and wail aloud,
by which I mean publish their findings abroad
     while barely maintaining objective detachment.

And I will unsheathe my serrated sword,
     and with sawtooth cut off one-third of the moon.

The sea will become seven times more capricious;
     her tides shall overturn vacations,
     and wreck the surfer’s Saturday.

Moreover, I will frustrate the plottings of those
     who clutter calendars with phases of moon,
     who delight in forecasting lunar cycles for centuries to come.

One third of the sun shall I also blot out,
     and there shall be two evenings;
     the greater and the lesser night.

From Flagstaff to Fargo, 
  yea, even to Fairbanks,

both men and women will utter complaint
     against the electric bill increase.

Small children shall draw houses in yards,
but do so with no knowledge of circles;

through tears they shall render strange sights in the heavens,
mangled shapes neither you nor your fathers have known,
and many a page will be torn by erasers.

And this artwork shall serve as a witness against you;
a Pacman blazing over the scorched earth,
gazing upon it with crooked smile.

---

Ryan Apple
Poet & Professor

Photograph by Jack Harding